Planting - Companions & Non-Companions

[pina la nina]

For lack of a better way to ask - I know there are plants that benefit from growing near each other - but are there some that would be deterimental to one another?

We are planting:

Beets
Bush Beans
Spinach
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Poblano Chiles
Shallots
Radishes
Strawberries

For perrenials we have asparagus and rhubarb in the beds already (2 raised beds.) Any thoughts on how to arrange this bunch?

[bigcats]

companion plants

I don't know about the answer to your question (I'm fairly new to gardening). I do know that planting garlic is good because it acts as a pest deterrent for your other plants. Many herbs do this too.

Mostly I just wanted to tell you that your garden sounds delicious!

[SoHappy]

Duane Newcomb's book The Backyard Vegetable Factory has a great chart about companion planting. There are also some online:
http://www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/vcomp.htm

http://www.humeseeds.com/comp1.htm

http://www.hitech.net.au/utegrrl/companio.htm#vegies

http://www.geocities.com/blainenay/complant.htm

[pina la nina]

Awesome!

Thanks guys! Now I'm so happy, too!

I can't wait to get these in the ground - I missed out last summer as I was waaay to preggo to bend over (let alone care.) Now its like a logic puzzle trying to keep good guys together and bad guys apart - I'll see how many mistakes I've made in past years!

[Snow]

If you don't mind mixing in some flowers and herbs too, you could really take advantage of them to confuse the insects! I always interplant and haven't used or needed any chemicals for years.

In general, you don't want to line things up in rows and put each type of veggie together in it's own space - mix them up. Otherwise the bugs will locate their plant of choice and just feast through that area. If they have to skip around the garden the other scents will confuse them and make it harder to zero in on the crop they like.

For example, your bush beans do need to be clumped together, so to speak, to provide support to each other but can you also mix in some petunias? Petunias (any color - it's about the fragrance) repel the bugs that love beans. I usually plant thick rows of bush beans, then surround them w/ tall white petunias.

Of course marigolds are great companion plants for most veggies, but it helps to use several different kinds/heights of them. Surround your garden in a row of lowgrowing French marigolds and use the Africans in back. Interplant other types between veggies.

Cosmos, morning glories and sunflowers for the back of the garden (particularly if it is up against a fence) attract butterflies and birds. The more birds, the fewer bugs. The tall snapdragons seem to be effective too.

Also, try putting in a toad house - or a partially buried clay pot, make sure it doesn't face South and is a little shaded.

Herbs: Basil, oregano, thyme, chives --- all great. Even it you have no use for them they will repel and confuse the bugs - mix them in throughout.

The bonus is you end up with some fun herbs to cook with, and everytime you go out to harvest can come back with an arm full of flowers for your kitchen. Have fun!

[Snow]

Oh, and mix the peppers in w/ the tomatoes since their needs are the same. But give them plenty of room and make sure that the peppers won't be blocked from sunlight by the much taller tomatoes later in the season.

[Nee Nee]

snow

thanks a lot for all your great ideas, and this isnt even my thread, but I am going to steal a bunch of your ideas!! You must have a beautiful garden, we should all post pictures of our gardens , of course I will have to wait until about July to show anything really exciting in mine!!

Regards,

renee

[pina la nina]

wow snow - that does sound beautiful! We tend to be disorganized gardeners so things aren't too much in rows anyway, but I do think this year I'm going for maximum spacing. We had problems last year with peppers being shaded by our tomatos - so we're going to try and space those out too. We've done marigolds in the veggie garden and basil but I like your idea of more varieties and petunias - I would never have thought of that! (I don't care for either myself - no wonder the bugs stay away.) Interesting toad idea! How will it get along with our resident turtle? Don't want to mess with anybody's turf here - and we are so fond of our turtle friend.

[m&m]

Just wanted to add that potatoes attract potato bugs and should be away from any above ground veggies - the bugs eat the leaves. And placing cans full of water can help get rid of those bugs, if you want to do that -

I have an Aunt who made a small garden of 1 plant each - just for the bugs - she would then pick bugs off of all the other plants in her garden, and put them in the "bug" garden. This woman also put cheese in her window screen for trapped flies.

[m&m]

Just wanted to add that potatoes attract potato bugs and should be away from any above ground veggies - the bugs eat the leaves. And placing cans full of water can help get rid of those bugs, if you want to do that -

I have an Aunt who made a small garden of 1 plant each - just for the bugs - she would then pick bugs off of all the other plants in her garden, and put them in the "bug" garden. This woman also put cheese in her window screen for trapped flies.

[kama'aina mama]

bumping up because the link was so useful and so are the posts.

[Hera]

Looking this up in Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte....

Beets like onions and lettuce.
Bush beans don't like onions(shallots), do like strawberries
Spinach likes strawberries
Potatoes like bush beans, don't like tomatoes (presumably because they're the same family and are both heavy feeders, so they'd fight for nutrients)
tomatoes like onions and dill, don't like potatoes
radishes are good to plant with squash, don't plant with cole plants (are those brassicas? I think so)
she has no suggestions for chili peppers,
sweet peppers like basil apparently
It seems like if you can't grow tomatoes and potatoes together, then you should n't put the peppers too close either.....but she doesn't say that.

This is a really great book, costs about $15.....

[Snow]

That does sound like a good book. And you're right, pretty much whatever goes for tomatoes goes for peppers too.

M&M I think I would like your Aunt!

How is everyone's garden doiing? Please tell so I can live vicariously - here in Minnesota it's been too cold to really work the soil much yet. And definitely too cold to put most plants in the garden, so we just have to wait....

[SoHappy]

Hi, Snow
Garden update:
Here in California things are going well. Except for my cucumbers, which the snails completely destroyed. Now we have to start over, Dagnabbit! My dh and son were supposed to be the Snail Patrol, but they got distracted after a few days, and that's all it took.

But we've been eating asparagus for months, strawberries for weeks. Lots of lettuce. The corn is about 6 inches high. Blossoms on some of the tomato plants. The new grape vines have been climbing, new fruit trees growing. The old plum tree has lots of big green fruit. (Ds can't wait! He checks the tree every day.)Everything else is still getting established.

Minnesota, huh? I've never lived anyplace with weather, just CA and Hawaii. But then, I bet you've never had to spend $150 to cover your front yard with snow for your sons birthday party, like we did last weekend!! (Does that make you feel better?)

[Snow]

lol - expensive snow!

What kind of uniforms does the Snail Patrol wear? Perhaps if they were issued some snappy little visors to go with......I'm picturing some German liederhosen outfit w/ knee socks and suspenders...
(are they armed w/ salt shakers?) heeheeheee*snort*

[SoHappy]

That's what was missing, the VISORS!! I'm sure they'd take it more seriously if they had visors!
They're not armed with salt, they're armed with beer!! They're supposed to go out and fill the little saucers with beer, then come back in the morning and get the dead (but oh-so-happy) snails out. Last time, dh sat on the side of the raised beds and drank the beer while ds played in the sandbox. Ya just can't find good help!!

[unfrozncavegrl]

bump. found this during a search and thought others might find it useful.